A multicentre study of surgical ablation (using the MAZE procedure) has assessed its long-term impact in patients with AF referred for cardiac surgery. The study tested the hypothesis that MAZE would increase sinus rhythm prevalence one year after surgery without increasing peri-procedural complications, and possibly improve the long-term clinical outcomes (mortality, heart failure, stroke, bleeding).

The WOEST study is designed to answer a specific dilemma in cardiology: the optimal antithrombotic treatment in patients on oral anticoagulant drugs (for atrial fibrillation or mechanical valve) who have to undergo coronary stenting. The study is the first on safety of omitting aspirin in this kind of patient.

The AFib Ablation Pilot Study, the first registry to evaluate the day-to-day diagnostic and therapeutic processes of AFib ablation in Europe, is a prospective, multicentre, 12-month observational study which recruited 1410 patients from 10 different European countries.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 has caused huge damage, including 15,861 dead and 3,018 missing persons, and, as of 6 June 2012, 388,783 destroyed homes. Following an investigation of the ambulance records made by doctors in the Miyagi prefecture, close to the epicentre of the earthquake and where the damage was greatest, cardiologists observations were made on the occurence and effects of five conditions.

A trial which evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of combined non-invasive CTA and CTP as compared with invasive angiography (ICA) and single photon computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT-MPI). Primary objective: to determine whether combined noninvasive CTA and CTP could reliably determine the presence or absence of flow limiting coronary stenoses as defined by the combination of ICA and SPECT-MPI.

The FAME 2 trial was conducted to assess the role of FFR in the percutaneous treatment of stable coronary artery disease in one or more vessels. The study enrolled 1220 patients with stable coronary artery disease, and compared clinical outcomes, safety and cost effectiveness of PCI guided by FFR plus optimal medical therapy (MT) with MT alone.